Did You Know?

• Most Michigan teachers want to partner with parents. Two-thirds want parental input and want parents to be part of the classroom; half want parents to be more involved in school-based activities.
• Most parents (90 percent) agree they should be part of the classroom education. They also believe more communication is the best way to encourage more parental involvement.
• Most teachers (89 percent) communicate with parents by phone. Email is an increasingly popular way of communicating with all parents (52 percent) and with those students needing extra help (42 percent).
• Ninety-five percent of Michigan parents are very involved with their children’s schools, but report time and work constraints that limit their contact with teachers and participation in the classroom.

Source: Your Child Parent-Teacher Survey with 1,000 parents/caregivers and 1,000 teachers in Michigan. Your Child is a coalition of the Michigan Education Association; Michigan Federation of Teachers and School Related Personnel; the Michigan Parent, Teacher, Student Association; the Middle Cities Education Association; the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals; the Michigan Elementary and Middle Schools Principals Association; the Michigan Association of School Administrators; Michigan’s Children; the Family Independence Agency; Cyberstate; and Wisconsin Education Association Council. Complete survey results are available at www.mea.org.

Michigan’s Schools Must Adopt Parent Involvement Policies in 2004-05

According to the Your Child Parent-Teacher Survey, 48 percent of teachers are unsure if their district has a policy regarding communicating with parents and 24 percent say their district does not have such a policy. That is about to change.

Beginning in 2004-05, all schools (including intermediate school districts and public school academies) will have parent involvement policies. Public Act 107, signed into law in May 2004, requires schools to adopt a plan no later than January 1, 2005 to encourage parent involvement.

The school or district’s board must provide a copy of the parent involvement plan to the parent or legal guardian of each student. Moreover, school boards must supply a copy of the plan to the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) upon request. The MDE will review district policies and post information about successful parental involvement policies and practices on its Web site.

Source: Public Act 107, which amends 1976 PA 451 (MCL 380.1 - 380.1852) by adding sec. 1294. p 1-12

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